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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Thanksgiving!

I'm pretty pretty sure this is a Thanksgiving Cactus rather than a Christmas or even Easter Cactus. I never really learned the difference. No matter what it's official kind, I am in awe and gratitude every time I look through the window of my studio gift shop. It must really like it there because it blooms continuously. People are always stopping to comment. Sometimes it is awash with blossoms and other times, like now, it seems to be gearing up to show off again. It is like the plant becomes a burning bush! Something I've talked about before in a very early post. The way I look at it: every time you see a burning bush is a sign The Holy One is very near. It is an invitation to take off your shoes and enter the sacred space with a new awareness. It is always a good idea to be paying attention to the messages you get while you are in this state of new awareness. You never know when the voice of God is sounding. Will you hear words spoken in a deep voice of authority. I doubt it, but there will probably be some sort of shimmer and dazzle involved. It's a frequency thing, I think. It is possible that the shimmer could come from an outer awareness but, it is more likely to strike a chord deep within. You know the feeling I'm sure. It is a state of heart and mind that you wish you could stay in forever. For me, it was just a simple act, really, of walking past the window on my way to something else and being so taken with the awesome glory of this little plant mounting up another hosanna shower of blossoms, that it made me do a double take and stop and say what I imagine The Holy One says every time we walk by: "O My God! Awesome!What a Great Idea I Had With That One! On those days when we are tempted to think in "little" terms about ourselves, it just may be that, in the eyes of the Creator, we too, are a Burning Bush! Believe it! P.S. There are some of you who post a comment in the form of a question and since I don't have your e-mail address (penny) it may seem like I'm ignoring you because I don't answer you. In "view my profile," I think there is an "e-mail" link where you can e-mail me so I can answer you.

10 comments:

zygocactus? apparently, the more light they have, the more they flower.

I know what you mean by messages... it is in the little things that I gasp sometimes and have that feeling you mention..and I want to bottle it. But the more I try to capture it or hold onto it, the more elusive it becomes... so maybe I should just enjoy the moment, knowing that the Divine will speak to me again and again, if only I am willing to listen or look.. of course, none of that happens.. I see something, have a soul moment and completely forget it .. I have had many, many signs or messages but I am still expecting the voice of God to boom at me.. I wonder if the biblical burning bush really had a voice or if it was more a knowing?so, how are we a burning bush? I hope your day is wonderful and you get lots of cake!

G'Day Kathryn, I found your blog via Miss*R to whom I have been talking for a few months now. I was excited to find another potter. Although you are at a different level of practice to me in the way you work with clay. Clay is my play.Lovely. I will be back for a more in depth read later and bookmark your page. I am a bit busy now. Bye Love Linda.

This reminds me of the little Christmas cactus I am trying to revive after it sat neglected on my coworker's desk getting more and more droopy and shrivelled. She was going to toss it and I said NO, I'll take it home. Sylvain and I talk to it every day. I think it's coming back, though it's only about 3" tall with 3 or four leaf segments. Poor baby. Maybe I'll show it this photo.

This idea of being aware of a Presence, hearing inside is something I'm striving for. I'm intentionally trying to be aware and listen with the heart. I've spent so many years in traditional Christianity (Catholic) saying the same prayers over and over, forcing myself to get through a rosary with no real attention or focus, that I feel I need to relearn how to just listen like a child. Perhaps I've had these moments but haven't known how to recognize them. Or maybe I would have been suspicious of them. Trusting myself spiritually is very new to me. So many people I've met recently seem so comfortable with God, the Divine, whatever. I admit sometimes the idea of God still frightens me. I'm not sure why - I never had hellfire and brimstone preached to me. Maybe it's been focusing on the vertical for so long, and now I need to recognize a horizontal relation - if that makes sense.

As usual, you have given me much to ponder. And the idea that we are a burning bush is intriguing.

I love those moments you have descibed - wanting to stay in the them forever. What a gift.

My Christmas Cactus was late blooming this year - and will bloom again in the summer, hopefully.

I absolutely love your magnificent stones - I have been giving them as gifts. The Mary Seeds are a huge hit, as I have many in my life who have the Mary Love as I do. I also appreciate the DREAM one - thank you, thank you, thank you!

I had to come back and read again what you said it meant when we see a burning bush because this morning the painting of a leafless tree on the bedroom wall had a red glow. I thought, "that looks like a burning bush."